"Grip the hammer with both hands, strike down with all your strength. Don't be afraid, and don't hesitate—they're no longer human, they're monsters." Su Li guided Xu Xuehui, knowing she had some psychological resistance to smashing these corpse beasts, and her strength wasn't great, making it hard to crush their heads. "It's only the first one that's the hardest. Once you take it down, the rest get easier." Under Su Li's guidance, Xu Xuehui finally mustered her courage. She gripped the hammer with both hands and swung it down at the corpse beast's head below, but couldn't help closing her eyes. The first strike missed. The hammer hit the ground, the recoil numbing Xu Xuehui's hands, and a pained expression crossed her face. Su Li sighed, then moved behind her, grabbing her arms. He made her grip the hammer tightly, lifted her arms, and swung them down forcefully, letting go halfway through. This time, the hammer struck the back of the corpse beast's skull solidly, but lacked enough force to crush it. "Again!" Su Li lifted her arms once more to help her. Repeating this, Xu Xuehui finally dared to open her eyes and watch. With a crisp "pop," the corpse beast's head was smashed open. The fatal weak point of these corpse beasts was their heads. Even if their hearts were destroyed, they wouldn't die, but once the head was broken, they perished instantly. A spirit source emerged and sank into Xu Xuehui's forehead. A hint of surprise flickered across her face, clearly sensing the information appearing in her mind. After obtaining her first spirit source, her entire body began to change, including a surge in strength. Su Li recalled that when he first started absorbing spirit sources, each one brought a significant boost in power, and Xu Xuehui was no exception. With the first experience under her belt and her strength at least somewhat increased, dealing with the second corpse beast wasn't as hard. Xu Xuehui struck it three times with the hammer before finally taking it down. After acquiring her second spirit source, Xu Xuehui's strength grew by at least a hundred jin. With greater power, the rest became even simpler. Soon, Xu Xuehui had killed five corpse beasts, gathering five spirit sources. After absorbing them, she successfully advanced to a "Level 1 Spirit Source User." Then, she killed the last corpse beast as well. "Kid, remember to choose to strengthen your stomach," Ding Longyun called out loudly, seeing Xu Xuehui had slain all six corpse beasts. Su Li said, "It's better to strengthen the lungs first. Everything outside is water now, so we need to enhance our ability to survive in it." Strengthening the lungs could boost lung capacity, and for now, food was still sufficient—they weren't at the point of needing to drink outside water or eat monster corpses yet. Ding Longyun hummed in agreement. "You've got a point. Strengthening the lungs first works; you can do the stomach next time." Xu Xuehui hesitated. "But... there's no option to strengthen lungs or stomach." Ding Longyun blinked. "What?" Su Li's mind stirred. "Then what does the information in your mind tell you to choose?" Xu Xuehui said, "Eyes and ears." "Hmm." Su Li said, "It seems the choices for strengthening upon each advancement are random—probably not the same for everyone." Ding Longyun chuckled. "Eyes and ears—one boosts vision, the other hearing. Either choice feels about the same. Pick one yourself, kid." Su Li thought Ding Longyun made sense. Vision and hearing were equally important; choosing either wouldn't be wrong. Xu Xuehui glanced secretly at Su Li and whispered, "I chose to strengthen my eyes." Ding Longyun smiled. "Strengthening eyes is pretty good too." As he spoke, he looked toward the window by the corridor. "It's getting late; the sun's about to set. I need to start dinner—tonight's the main event." "What do we do with these bodies?" Su Li asked Ding Longyun. "Leave them here for now; we'll deal with them later." "There's plenty of leftover rice from lunch. Let's have egg and ham fried rice tonight." Ding Longyun was a decent cook. The egg and ham fried rice he made was fragrant and colorful, each grain of rice a golden hue, looking incredibly appetizing. "Ding, your cooking is no joke. I'm ashamed to say all I can do is boil instant noodles," Su Li said, taking a deep breath, his fingers itching to dig in. Pleased by Su Li's compliment, Ding Longyun chuckled. "What can I do? After the divorce, I lived alone. I couldn't order takeout every day—it's neither nutritious nor healthy—so I slowly learned to cook." "You're divorced?" Su Li was slightly taken aback. Ding Longyun took out three clean bowls and set them aside. He filled one to the brim and handed it to Xu Xuehui, who quickly waved her hands, saying she couldn't eat that much—it was too much for her small appetite. Ding Longyun scolded her gently, "You're still growing; you need to eat more." Then he answered Su Li's question. "Yeah, I've been divorced for a few years. I have a daughter, Ding Han, thirteen years old. Since I didn't have a steady job back then, she was awarded to my ex-wife." A trace of bitterness crossed Ding Longyun's face as he spoke. He then looked at Xu Xuehui, a hint of tenderness in his eyes. "My daughter's the same age as you. If you ever meet, I'm sure you'll become good friends." Su Li then understood why Ding Longyun had been so caring and doting toward Xu Xuehui—he had a daughter her age. Clearly, every time he saw Xu Xuehui, he thought of his daughter Ding Han. Xu Xuehui blinked her big eyes, as if about to say something, then shifted her gaze to Su Li's face. Seeing her holding the bowl without eating, Su Li frowned. "Eat." Xu Xuehui flinched, immediately bowed her head obediently, and took a big bite, only to choke on it. Ding Longyun glared at Su Li. "Why are you scaring a kid?" He quickly patted Xu Xuehui's back and handed her water, acting every bit the doting father. Su Li was caught between laughter and exasperation. "I noticed she doesn't eat proper meals much and prefers snacks. Eating too many snacks isn't good for her." Ding Longyun immediately put on a stern face. "That's true. Kid, you're growing and need nutrition. Remember to eat fewer snacks—they're not nutritious." Xu Xuehui murmured an "oh," lowered her head, and began eating slowly in small bites, saying nothing more. Watching her pace, Su Li thought that at this rate, finishing that big bowl of fried rice would take her an hour. By the time Su Li and Ding Longyun finished their meals, Xu Xuehui had eaten less than a third of hers.